Qin Miao clearly felt the right rear tire of his racing car get bumped, and something flew off with it, but the tire didn't suffer much damage as a result.

If there happened to be a helicopter overhead of the two cars at this moment, it would be able to see that this collision was mainly due to Qin Miao and Verstappen's synchronized lane changes.

Verstappen couldn't respond in time, and his car's left front nose wing endplate scraped right off Qin Miao's right rear tire.

The good news is that the fragments of Verstappen's car's left front endplate were blown off the track due to the airflow, so the likelihood of deploying a safety car is low.

Moreover, the damage to Verstappen's front wing isn't considered severe, and the feel of driving the car hasn't changed much either, with only a slight loss of downforce and some balance-related issues.

But these issues don't affect the car's speed, and the driver just needs to change their driving habits to offset these negative impacts.

Since the two started battling in the last lap, the live broadcast director had locked the camera onto them, so the collision was seen instantly by the audience and commentators watching the race live.

"Ah! Qin Miao and Verstappen have collided!"

"There's debris flying out!"

All three commentators were very tense upon realizing a collision had occurred, mainly because it involved Qin Miao. Although the commentators can't be too subjective while narrating the race, it's a rare occasion for a genius driver from the country, and the three commentators were really protective and wary.

No matter what their personal intentions are, subconsciously, they always lean towards Qin Miao.

So, upon realizing an accident on the track, they were immediately concerned about the condition of Qin Miao's car.

Fearing that Qin Miao, who had just retired in the last race, might withdraw again this time.

Fortunately, what they worried about did not happen.

Both Qin Miao and Verstappen's cars were still driving normally.

When Qin Miao turned to look, he found that Verstappen's car's left front endplate was missing a piece, leaving only a solitary front nose wing.

Despite the fact that drivers might risk everything for a 0.1-second advantage by flooring the gas regardless of the danger, Qin Miao and Verstappen clearly had a collision now.

After such an incident, no matter how unwilling Verstappen might be, he can only ease off the throttle a bit and open up some space between himself and Qin Miao to prevent another collision.

The race committee immediately focused on the two cars once they collided.

However, as the race went on, the committee found neither car displayed significant body instability, concluding the collision was a slight brush, despite the flying debris, the incident is controllable.

"Luckily, luckily, Qin Miao's car didn't have any issues, only Verstappen's front endplate broke, not much influence on Qin Miao."

The three commentators sighed in relief.

[Scared me to death]

[Pan, can you drive or not?]

[Pan must have been anxious]

[This is just like Pan]

...

After seeing the collision, the domestic fans unanimously blamed Verstappen for everything.

Actually, to be fair, both parties share responsibility for this collision, but the domestic fans are somewhat overprotective.

Anyhow, Qin Miao's defense task for this lap is considered completed.

But as Qin Miao arrived at lap forty, the team delivered unwelcome news: "Qin Miao, the tire wear is a bit higher than we anticipated, and our right rear tire pressure reading is somewhat abnormal. Fortunately, the situation isn't severe, we'll keep monitoring, and inform you immediately if anything happens."

Upon hearing this, Qin Miao, who was somewhat proud of his successful defense against Verstappen, couldn't bring himself to laugh anymore.

If there's indeed an issue with the tire, it could result in a blowout and a race withdrawal at worst, or require another pit stop to change tires at best.

Even though Qin Miao has spare soft tires, there's no guarantee he can reclaim his original position in the remaining twenty-six laps.

However, upon careful examination, Qin Miao didn't feel any problem with his tires, instinctively suspecting that the sensors of his car might have malfunctioned due to the collision.

But it's impossible to determine the problem in a short time, regardless of the tire's condition anyway, Frankie's recent reminder suggests that if Qin Miao continues to defend against Verstappen, Qin Miao's tires likely won't withstand the upcoming wear and tear, potentially ending in a blowout.

Meaning that at the next overtaking point, Qin Miao can't perform overly aggressive defense maneuvers and must let Verstappen pass.

Honestly, it's quite interesting to battle wits against Verstappen on the track, but unfortunately, the tires don't allow it.

Changing strategy now isn't practical; although Leclerc is 14 seconds behind Verstappen and at least 15 seconds behind Qin Miao himself.

A pit stop for tire change takes at least 23 seconds, whereby exiting, Qin Miao will inevitably fall behind Leclerc.

This will result in countless variables, so instead of fighting Verstappen for a temporary thrill, it's better to assure a definitive third-place finish.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.